Fiscal Note
The proposed resolution authorizes an amendment to the contract with the Center for Community Stewardship (C4CS) to include an additional $50,000 for Youth Action Board (YAB) member compensation on behalf of Madison/Dane County Continuum of Care (CoC). The contract is funded by Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program initiative developed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The CoC was awarded a total of $2,293,291, and the amount for this amendment to the contract is available for YAB member compensation. No additional City appropriation required.
Title
Authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to execute a 2024 YHDP contract amendment with the Center for Community Stewardship to support the Madison/Dane County Continuum of Care’s Youth Action Board member compensation.
Body
The Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) is an initiative developed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to reduce the number of youth experiencing homelessness -- both unaccompanied minors and youth ages 18-24 -- in communities across the nation. On May 24, 2021, HUD released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO #FR-6400-N-35), announcing its FY20 YHDP grant award competition. The Madison/Dane County Continuum of Care (CoC) applied for the grant, with the City of Madison serving as the Collaborative Applicant and Briarpatch Youth Services, Inc. as the Lead Agency, and was awarded $2,293,291 for a two-year grant term.
The CoC's Youth Action Board (YAB) plays an integral role in planning the YHDP activities and later requested, and the CoC approved, at its June 21, 2022 board meeting, a change in YHDP Lead Agency designation from Briarpatch to the City of Madison for the purposes of managing the FY20 YHDP grant funds. This requested change was subsequently approved by the Common Council on August 2, 2022 (RES-22-00565, Legistar #72663).
The YHDP grant primarily supports two project components: Joint Transitional Housing/Rapid Re-Housing (TH/RRH) and System Navigation. Additionally, a portion of the grant's administrative funds is allocated to compensate YAB members for their system planning, evaluation work, and training.
Due to various factors, including delayed approval of a grant amendment at the federal level and local provider changes, the grant was significantly underutilized in 2023, the first year of the initial two-year grant term. To address this, the CoC’s Board of Directors approved reallocation plans on January 3, 2024, and March 6, 2024. These plans included allocating additional funds to Outreach, Inc. and Urban Triage, bringing in a new provider, Briarpatch, for the TH/RRH project, and adding an additional $50,000 of administrative funds for YAB member compensation. Approval for most of these changes was requested through two previous resolutions, Legistar #81625 (adopted) and #82494 (pending).
This resolution specifically pertains to the $50,000 administrative funds for compensating YAB members. This approval request was separated out due to a delay in confirming the continued service of the CoC’s fiscal agent, Center for Community Stewardship (C4CS).
ACTION
WHEREAS, the Common Council has adopted the 2020-2024 City of Madison Consolidated Plan, which identifies homelessness as a critical issue within the community and outlines a set of strategies and priorities to address those problems using community-based groups; and,
WHEREAS, the City of Madison has long been integrally involved in local efforts to end and prevent homelessness, and is a member and active participant in the Madison/Dane County Continuum of Care (CoC); and,
WHEREAS, the Madison/Dane County CoC applied for and was awarded $2,293,291 in FY20 Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) grant funds via a 2021 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), for the performance period beginning December 1, 2022 and ending November 30, 2024; and,
WHEREAS, on August 2, 2022 (RES-22-00565, Legistar #72663), the Common Council authorized the City of Madison to assume responsibilities as YHDP Lead Agency for the distribution and oversight of YHDP grant funds; and,
WHEREAS, on December 6, 2022 (RES-22-00808, Legistar #74734), the Common Council authorized a 2023-2024 contract with the Center for Community Stewardship (C4CS), Madison/Dane County CoC’s fiscal agent, to provide compensation for CoC’s YAB activities; and,
WHEREAS, an additional $50,000 of administrative funds for the YAB was approved by the CoC Board of Directors on January 3, 2024 and C4CS is the CoC’s approved fiscal agent.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Common Council authorizes the Mayor and City Clerk to execute a contract amendment for an additional $50,000 in 2024 for YAB member compensation, making the total contract amount for 2024 with C4CS $102,103.